In spite of all the legal, ethical, and personal risks associated with using WhatsApp for workplace communications, employees still do it every day.Īccording to a recent white paper by Google, If your employees are using WhatsApp for business communication on their personal mobile devices, they are exposing your company to serious data breaches and security risks. What’s more, the European Court of Justice ruled that US tech companies, specifically Facebook, do not provide an adequate level of protection of personal data for their European users. WhatsApp has been heavily criticized for its failure to protect its users’ data privacy in the past. Safe Business Communications: WhatsApp’s Data Privacy Record Is Abysmal Because of WhatsApp’s price ( it’s free) and ease of use, it can look like an attractive ad-hoc solution for workplace communication, particularly for mobile frontline employees.Īlthough WhatsApp is great for communicating with friends and family, there are many reasons why using WhatsApp for workplace communication is a very bad idea. Though it was first intended to be a personal messaging app, employees have begun to use WhatsApp for business communication. At the time of the acquisition, WhatsApp had a half a billion monthly active users, which as of May 2020, has now grown to over 2 billion users.

The reason for the massive selling price was the worldwide phenomenon that WhatsApp was becoming.

When Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014, it was the largest deal ever for a venture-backed startup.

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